Crystal Infinity
by Liz-Morgan
Summary: Gile's daughter shows up unexpectedly after years of no communication. Resulting events cause Buffy & Co. to wonder if there is more to her than it seems.
1. Watching The Rain Come Down

A/N: Yes, if you read my other attempt, this is a new version of the story I was *trying* to tell. So completely ignore my previous attempt, as I will hopefully be able to write this one the way the story was meant to be.  
  
Disclaimer: As much as I wish I had them to command as my own, they all belong to Joss & Co. with the exception of Liz, Michael, Kyle, Adam, and Diana.  
  
Rating: PG-13...basically, if you can watch the show, you can read this.  
  
Spoilers: Eh, I'm trying on incorporating Season 7 events up to Selfless, so we'll see just how many plot holes I can come up with.  
  
Feedback: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YES! One of the reasons I'm redoing this is because of the lack of feedback in my last attempt. Although I do beg of you, please be gentle in your witty criticisms...I am fragile and bruise easily. :( ....hermit that I am.  
  
Pairings: A/X, S/?, W/T (yes, Tara will return...bwahahahahaha)  
  
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"Screw it" she muttered, yanking the headset off. She sat at her studio, head in her hands. Usually, she was much more focused; she could turn out a song in a half hour, music and lyrics completed without any hesitation.  
  
She turned off the equipment and stood, walking towards the large picture window that faced the city of L.A. It was raining, making the pane's view distorted. She tried to envision what life had been like before she had found out about her own hidden past, before her friends had ceased to be her friends. Before her husband and her child had died. Her hand brushed against a photograph of herself and Michael, right after their wedding, sending involuntary shudders down her spine. She closed her eyes and tried to steady herself.  
  
Screams. She could still hear them; were they Michaels? Or were they her own? They seemed to twist together, forming one long grating tornado of shrill sound. He had died protecting her; she knew now that had been his job, more than anything else. All of theirs; Kyle, Adam, and Michael. But Michael had loved her; had married her, had promised to be there forever.  
  
And yet here she was, alone, save for the rain, despite the chaos of the city below her.  
  
She gave a frustrated sigh, running her hands through her blonde hair; not her natural color, but one that suited her all the same. She seldom feared anything; when you grew up in a place where demons and monsters were not fairytales, but real, you learned to forget about fear. Fear was what made people end up dead. She knew enough of those monsters, the ones that looked like those of the books she had read in her father's library when she should have been reading children's stories. She knew about the monsters of the city, too; the ones of drink, and drugs, and guns. The ones who killed, who raped, who robbed, and who did it all while pretending to be a member of the race of man. She grew up around them, too. But she had promised herself not to be afraid.  
  
This time, however, she was afraid; afraid of a man she hadn't seen in years, who had never called, never wrote, and yet had to be told something she would give anything never to mention. Kyle and Adam had protested; he wasn't her father, she owed him nothing. And on some level, they were right. He wasn't her biological father; her parents had both been killed by a demon in London when she was three; but he had taken her in, first under Council orders, and then because he said he loved her, like one of his own. She knew how hard he had to fight to keep her; the Council thought she was dangerous, that she had been affected by the demon in some way; they'd tested her for weeks. Even now, she wouldn't enter a hospital.  
  
And yet how easily he had given up that fight when she was twelve; when she had crept out in the middle of the night with her three best friends to leave for the States, unaware of their true motives. He was on his way there anyway; to California, to become the guide to the new Slayer; he wouldn't admit it, but they both knew she wasn't going to be permitted to leave with him. She would be forced to stay behind, in the care of the Council, until she found a way to escape them. So she had left. She had tried to stay in touch; sending him news clippings of their latest conquest in the music world, but she never received an answer.  
  
So she had gone to visit him, four years ago, to Sunnydale. His Slayer was something else; so were her friends. She still kept in touch with Dawn and Cordelia, who had since moved to L.A. herself. But her meeting with her father resulted in a loud, three hour long screaming match; Liz couldn't even remember half of what had been said. And she had left, again, in the middle of the night, a mirror image of the events that had gone on three years before.  
  
But now she knew that no matter what, she would have to give him the information that had just been revealed to her.  
  
Because sooner or later they would find out; and then, they would come and destroy her.  
  
She looked at her watch, noting that she had been working for hours. She then checked a small dial underneath her watch, which blinked out the time ":11".  
  
"Damn it", she swore to herself. Turning away from the window, she made her way back to her desk and picked up a few various files. Then, sitting down slowly, she manuevered her wheelchair and wheeled herself outside, hitting the lights as she left.  
  
Back in the studio, a small light blinked on the corner of the desk. It shone brightly, its colors changing, until it was as brilliant as the sun, its hue a dark red. Then it disappeared, an echo of laughter in the air. 


	2. Bitter Ties

A/N: Yes, if you read my other attempt, this is a new version of the story I was *trying* to tell. So completely ignore my previous attempt, as I will hopefully be able to write this one the way the story was meant to be.  
  
Disclaimer: As much as I wish I had them to command as my own, they all belong to Joss & Co. with the exception of Liz, Michael, Kyle, Adam, and Diana.  
  
Rating: PG-13...basically, if you can watch the show, you can read this.  
  
Spoilers: Eh, I'm trying on incorporating Season 7 events up to Selfless (and at this point, Him as well) , so we'll see just how many plot holes I can come up with.  
  
Feedback: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YES! One of the reasons I'm redoing this is because of the lack of feedback in my last attempt. Although I do beg of you, please be gentle in your witty criticisms...I am fragile and bruise easily. :( ....hermit that I am.  
  
Pairings: A/X, S/?, W/T (yes, Tara will return...bwahahahahaha)  
  
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Liz put the phone back in its cradle for what seemed like the hundreth time that day. There was no answer at her father's house, and the Magic Box's line was forever busy. She looked at the clock; Dawn should be home from school, but if she wasn't, she was risking either Buffy or Willow answering the phone, and she hadn't spoken to them since the last time she was in Sunnydale.  
  
They didn't call you either, she thought to herself, but it was a false security. She knew she could have easily picked up a phone, even with the tour schedules and being moved around so often. As it was, she barely even visited Cordelia, and they had been living in the same city for almost five months.  
  
She shifted her position on the couch, and looked towards the door. They'll be coming up any minute, she thought, and they'll pretend everything is fine. And then we'll start the same argument again, and I'll go to my room. And then I'll wonder just why it is that I am the one being held prisoner. She winced at the word; these were her friends, had been ever since they were children; she didn't like feeling like they were her wardens. They had always been overprotective of her, and that protection only increased after Michael died. She pulled her feet up under her and hugged one of the pillows, giving a deep sigh. She wanted them to get home so she could go out; there were hundreds of clubs she could go to, lose herself in. She knew they'd insist on coming along; but who cared? Once they were there she could slip away and enjoy herself; besides, Kyle would be too busy getting drunk, and Adam would find some girl to spend the evening with.  
  
The phone rang, startling her slightly; she reached over and picked it up.  
  
"Hello?" she said. Kyle and Adam chose this moment to walk through the doorway; Kyle had groceries in his arms. Silent hellos were exchanged, and Liz turned her attention back to the phone.  
  
"Hello?" she said again, wondering if the caller had hung up.  
  
"Liz?" The voice on the other end was faded, as if coming from far away, but Liz could still identify it.  
  
" Dawnie? How are you?"  
  
There was a hesitation on the other end. "I'm okay," Dawn said. "I just wanted to call and ... talk, you know?"  
  
Liz understood. Dawn had been calling her more and more recently; with their mother gone and Buffy out working or patrolling, Dawn wanted to talk to someone who she felt would listen. She signalled to Kyle, who turned around and took the portable phone from its place in the kitchen. She clicked it on and moved to her room, shutting the door behind her.  
  
"So, what's new" she said, trying to let Dawn tell her whatever she was having problems with on her own.  
  
"Well," Dawn started, "I met a guy. And I thought I really, really loved him, but it turns out that it was a spell; something with his letter jacket. I feel really stupid; I really thought I liked him! And that for once, I had a guy too, you know?"  
  
Liz nodded, forgetting they were on the phone. "Yea, I know."  
  
"But I guess it wasn't too bad...I mean, Willow and Buffy fell for him too, and I didn't do anything half as bad as they did; Buffy was making out with him in the classroom! And Willow tried to turn him into a girl..."  
  
Liz laughed, and continued to listen as Dawn relayed the current Sunnydale news to her; she seemed to be much happier than she had been a few months ago.  
  
Dawn paused. "Are you going on tour again soon?" she asked, almost as if she was afraid of the answer.  
  
"Actually, I'm taking a break from the music biz, Dawnie. I'm thinking I need a little vacation time...maybe spend some time in a small, Californian town, where everyone seems to be a little crazed..."  
  
"Ohmigod, are you coming here? Please tell me you're coming here!" Dawn was shrieking so loud Liz had to hold the phone away from her ear.  
  
"Yea, I'm thinking we might come down for a little while, me and the guys. Hows that sound to you?"  
  
"It's sounds great; I can't wait to tell Buffy! And you can meet Anya, and Spike...and Willow and Xander will be so glad to see you..." her voice trailed off.  
  
"Giles will be happy to see you too." Dawn let her words hang in the air a moment.  
  
"He probably doesn't even mention me, Dawn." Her words were a little harder than intended, but from Dawn's silence she knew she had assumed correctly.  
  
"Anyway, Dawn, I've got to take care of a few things before we can even get ourselves down to Sunnydale, so I'd better go; I'll talk to you soon, okay?" She and Dawn said goodbye after Liz promised that they would be down by the weekend, then hung up.  
  
Liz waited a minute; she could feel Adam right behind the door, could hear the unspoken thoughts of both of them, just waiting for her to come out of her room.  
  
"Well, why not" she said, and she opened the door.  
  
"Didn't your mother teach you not to eavesdrop?" she asked Adam as he retreated back into the kitchen. He didn't evne pretend he hadn't been listening.  
  
"You told her we were coming to Sunnydale." His voice was even, without emotion; Liz knew he erupt in minutes.  
  
"That's right, I did." She matched his tone, but made it clear that pushing the issue was not an option. Adam sidestepped that and continued.  
  
"I thought we agreed to think about going. Not that we actually were!"  
  
"No; you agreed to think about it. I'm the one who decided. I don't care how scared you are; you think I'm not? We're going, and that's the end of it." Beyond Adam, she could see Kyle pour himself a drink and down it.  
  
"No, Liz, it isn't. What happens when they want you dead? When your daddy or, hey, here's a thought, THE SLAYER thinks its time for you to get a room with a six foot deep view?!"  
  
Liz looked at him evenly. "Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing." Adam opened his mouth to say something, but they were both interrupted by the sound of glass hitting marble as Kyle slammed his drink down and poured himself another.  
  
"Jesus!" He exclaimed, downing yet another one. "Jesus," he muttered to himself. "Do you enjoy giving us heart attacks? Should one of us stay with you all the time, like, like a suicide watch or something?" His eyes moved towards her wrists; she ignored him, her face feeling hot; instead of responding, she walked past Adam and grabbed the bottle of whatever substance Kyle had managed to bring home and chucked it in the trash.  
  
"What the hell was that for?" he asked, moving to retrieve it. Liz ignored him and muttered a short incantation; flames darted up from the trash for a moment, then vanished, taking the contents with it.  
  
"You know," she said, her voice shaking, "You may be six years older than me, but the two of you act like you're five." She grabbed her coat and made her way to the door.  
  
"Where are you going?" Adam asked, his tone slightly lighter than it had been before.  
  
"Out." Not turning around, she added, "And you'd better pack; we're leaving tomorrow." 


End file.
